Might try Pampas - a bit pricey $44 per person for dinner but all you can eat top-quality food - over 15 different types of skewered meat coming around to your table...He could do some serious damage here :)

Howie's Artisan Pizza, Hunan Garden for Chinese, and Hyderabad House for Indian are all great quality near Stanford. The latter two are also especially reasonably priced for the quality given the Palo Alto locale.

Of the indian buffets, the best and closest to campus is Darbar's AYCE lunch buffet. Tasty tasty. Passage to India's pretty good but a bit of a haul - OTOH, they seem to do AYCE buffet dinners, which might be worth the drive. Call first. I don't think Hydrabad House has particuarly good portions - tasty enough, but small.

Max's is a good call - portions are tremendous. Peninsula Creamery is the best dinerish spot, good lunch/brunch, food is a cut above, but portions aren't massive like Max's. Another fun brunch spot is Buck's in woodside - a bit of a drive but worth it. There's a Stacks near campus in Menlo Park, which I haven't been to, that serves waffles and pancakes.

Regarding Chinese, no place on university ave gets my stamp of approval. Head down to Jade Palace on California Ave - Melanie has posted on it extensively. Or go a little further south on ECR to Su Hong Palo Alto - their new digs are bright and shiny, and the food's pretty good.

One thing not mentioned - the steak house Sundance Mining Co right near campus serves really good steak. Old school charm, lots of Stanford football memorabilia, authentic not a made-up chain. I think they have some really huge steaks, but you'll pay.

Peking Duck recently moved to the Jade Palace location, but that famous chef of Jade Palace is staying. I went to talk to the owner last week, and they were serving both menus. They are in the process of combining both menus now.

Both the chefs of Peking Duck and Jade Palace have some skills, and I certainly hope they will attract some business despite their almost invisible location next to the California Avenue Caltrain station.

I am becoming aware that what I said about the rugby players and the AYCE breakfast places during the championships may now apply to the football camp and the Indian buffets.I believe that every AYCE breakfast buffet restaurant in the area has just posted a closed for the championships sign. ;-)

In the 90s there were a group of Cal linemen that went to a AYCE Chinese place in Concord. After a couple of visits the owner made a deal with the kids - he gave those guys a free AYCE meal once a month but you can only stay an hour.

There is a $12 AYCE sushi place near my kid's high school which he and some of his teammates visit once a week. They typically polish off 25-30 items each and because of their age cannot drink alcohol to soften the financial blow.

Thanks again to all you very helpful 'Hounds for your great suggestions!

It's not immediately next door, but Palace BBQ Buffet in Sunnyvale has awesome, all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ within a relatively short drive of Stanford. Plus you get the fun of picking out your meat, and cooking it at your table.

I used to go there in college with a couple friends who were on the Stanford football team -- the waitstaff usually met us with looks of panic in their eyes, but never kicked us out. :)